1. Technical Field
This invention relates to new A-frame style automotive dismantler's stands useful in salvage and recycling of vehicle parts. The stands of the invention are most useful with motor vehicles such as automobiles, vans, private or commercial pick-up trucks and tractor trailer trucks. As used herein, the term “motor vehicle” can mean a complete vehicle or a portion of the vehicle, such as a portion remaining after (1) an accident where components have been mangled or lost or (2) prior removal of some parts. The A-frame style stands of the invention are stable and provide improved, clear access to components under and around a vehicle mounted thereon. Preferably, the A-frame style stands are adjustable in width, length or height to facilitate removal of parts from virtually any vehicle, regardless of size or condition.
2. Brief Description of Background Art
Hundreds of thousands of motor vehicles, ranging from subcompacts to tractor trailer trucks, are discarded annually in the United States alone. Often these discarded vehicles are sent to scrap or junk yards where they are dismantled for recycling and salvage of useable parts that can be sold or auctioned in the used auto parts market. Vehicles sent to such yards may be dismantled to obtain all recyclable components at one time or kept in the yard for removal of parts over time, for example when specific components are sought by a particular customer. Portions of the vehicle that remain after total dismantling are crushed or pressed and treated as scrap metal. Many vehicles that are brought to scrap yards have sustained major damage; for example they may be missing entire sections or are substantially distorted in shape.
Scrap yards move and dismantle salvage vehicles using heavy equipment, usually a front end loader or a forklift, which has long or short forks mounted in front. Loaders having long forks with a maximum width of about 48″ load vehicles lengthwise and are used for a variety of functions around the yard. Loaders mounted with short forks, known as scrappers, load vehicles from the side and are often used in the dismantling process to raise at least a portion of a vehicle off the ground and place it on a stand. After the vehicle has been mounted, people who dismantle the vehicle, called automotive dismantlers, work under and around the stand to remove parts. In small to medium-sized scrap yards, stands are made by local welders or builders, often based upon the design of a stand seen in another yard.
Typical stands have a square or rectangular box-type structure, of equal width at the top and the bottom, are built to one size and nonadjustable. This combination results in a stand that is unstable and prone to tipping, creating serious work hazards for automotive dismantlers and equipment operators in the vicinity. Potential for accidents is exacerbated when yards use these stands to mount and dismantle vehicles that are either too large or small for the stand or are distorted in such a way that they can not sit on the stand in a stable position. Even the process of removing parts can destabilize a vehicle.
The box-type structures of conventional stands include four vertical columns connected at right angles by horizontal cross members located significantly above ground level. The cross members create obstructions in the dismantling area and limit the dismantler's access to certain vehicle parts. This often requires that the vehicle be removed and repositioned on the stand several times for complete removal of parts, decreasing efficiency of the operation, increasing costs and increasing the potential for accidents.
The orientation of the vertical columns and presence of raised horizontal cross members of conventional stands can interfere with the loading and off-loading of vehicles by forklift operators. For example, loaders mounted with long forks often are not useable in the dismantling process because of the horizontal encumbrances. This means that the typical yard, which will usually have one front end loader and two different fork assemblies often has to remove a long fork assembly from the loader and replace it with a short fork assembly.
Other stands and assemblies for dismantling motor vehicles, in particular for draining fluids, are known in the art. One such stand, named “The Enviro-Rack” is a high capacity auto fluid removal and dismantling station sold by IronAx. United States Patent Publication 20040031645 to Sheppard et. al. discloses a vehicle articulation apparatus capable of elevating a vehicle for access by personnel and can be pivoted for more complete drainage of fluids before dismantling. U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,855 B1 to Lindner discloses a suspended disassembly line for automobile dismantling that uses a plurality of electrically operated lifts to stabilize and suspend the automobile. Such devices and assemblies are much more complex than conventional stands and too expensive for many salvage businesses, which continue to operate at the junk yard level. Moreover, these devices can actually limit access to parts of the vehicle, which is not preferred for most dismantling.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved dismantler's stands including improved stability and substantially obstruction-free work space for dismantlers and forklift operators. Simpler stands that are adjustable in length, width or height, preferably in two or all three dimensions, to accommodate vehicles of varying size or condition, are also needed.